Comments on: Up close.

By: chris

chris — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:41:00 +0000

The author of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” puts a lot of value in travel on two wheels. He prefers the feeling of the elements around him (heat, wind, rain, sun, cold) and the way that you are forced to interact with the world around you. He also mentions a few times that the car makes it more of “watching TV” when you travel in a four-wheeled vehicle, with no real sense of connection between you and the world you’re hurtling through at 60 mph

By: Alcarwen

Alcarwen — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 05:36:00 +0000

Maybe we need to “become a transparent eye-ball.” I always got the impression whenever I read that particular phrase that Emerson wanted to take in everything from an ant marching on his way to the movement of the planet. I think (along with Emerson) that the important thing is to shake up the view and not to become engrossed in habit… to be always seeing things in a different way so they strike you as something new.

Plus, it’s always fun to think of an enormous transparent eye-ball wandering around New England.

By: Stasyna

Stasyna — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:56:00 +0000

Interesting post.

Especially since I’m in training to becoming a hippy (Environmental Studies), I agree with you. Sometimes you got to slow the hell down, so you can speed your mind the hell up.

By: Johnny G.

Johnny G. — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 07:03:00 +0000

True, Rob. It’s not like people really pay attention to those signs anyway. I’ve almost gotten stomped by bikes around the lake myself. And I’m completely guilty of riding my bike through there a few times as a short-cut — though I do go extra slowly through there.

I love SIU. But they could really use to make some of the signs and regulations easier to read, like the cool new maps around campus and the rat-maze of Faner.

By: Johnny G.

Johnny G. — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:19:00 +0000

Thanks, B. Too early:)

By: Brian Manning

Brian Manning — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:37:00 +0000

Thanks for these nice musings, Johnny. But, where is Walden Pong? :-)

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:14:00 +0000

I’ve never understood those signs on the path at campus lake. How could anyone ever be going fast enough around the loop for it to make a difference that you can read those words from the bottom to the top instead of the usual way? Besides, the lines of text are close enough together that even if you were biking around it at top speed, you would always see all of them at once. All the people who designed those signs have done is make it more difficult for our brains to process the message.